April 05, 2026

Never Drink and Sign


Never Drink and Sign
Keeping the peace, fueling war. The Russian Life files.

Pro-democracy outlet Radio Svoboda recently published a report detailing three stories of Russian men who were stopped by police while intoxicated. Instead of letting the men go, the police made them sign contracts with the Ministry of Defense, enlisting them in Russia's War on Ukraine.

Yegor Sabynich of Petrozavodsk was approached by police while walking home, after attending a friend's housewarming party. When he reported that he didn't have any identifying documents on him, the police took him to the station, reportedly to confirm his identity. However, during the exchange, they tricked him into signing a contract. When he was finally able to get in contact with his family via a borrowed cell phone, he was already at a military training camp. His wife and four young children are powerless to get him back.

A similar case occurred with "Sergei A.," who disappeared from Mogocha in January. Sergei went to visit friends, and was hungover when he was last seen. A week later, he called his family from the front line. He had no idea how he got there; through friends, he slowly learned that he had been forced to sign a contract while intoxicated, after police took him into custody, then to the recruiting office.

Likewise, a young man in Chita was abducted by police when drunk. But he remembers the exchange perfectly: After checking his documents and searching him for distinguishing marks or signs of criminal affiliations on his body, cops handed him a document that they said merely attested to the fact that he'd been checked out and was free to go. When he sobered up the next day, he found that what he signed was actually enlistment paperwork. Three months later, he went missing in action.

These stories and others like them attest to growing desperation to fill Russia's front lines. They could also be evidence of large-scale grift and patronage that continues to fuel Russia's war machine.

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